Former Warragul Warrior Sam Flanders has made his AFL debut, playing for the Gold Coast Suns last Wednesday night against the Bombers.
In a game that he won’t soon forget, Flanders played in a 11.7.73 draw with Essendon at Metricon Stadium. He eased into his AFL career playing 60 per cent of the game, collecting eight disposals across half forward and laying a team high five tackles, with his trademark physicality on show from the start.
Flanders was named in the side on Tuesday afternoon during the team meeting, where coach Stuart Dew announced, they had a debutant.
“Dewy put the team up on the screen and there was one spot left in the forward line, he spoke for a bit and then said I was coming in and the boys just got around me,” he said.
His debut came under unusual circumstances for Flanders, with his Suns side playing on a Wednesday night during the ‘festival of footy’ which will see 33 games played in just 20 days.
For Flanders though, it didn’t matter what day or time, it was a dream come true.
“I tried to keep my preparation normal. I had heaps of messages from everyone which was great, but I knew I also had to focus for the night,” he said.
The nerves did kick in for Flanders pregame, but he said a chat with a few teammates helped keep him calm before running out onto the ground.